Jump directly to the Content
Jump directly to the Content

Sermon Illustrations

Home > Sermon Illustrations

Modern-Day Missionary at McDonald's

Global missions expert Paul Borthwick shared the following story to remind us how God's mission can be from anyone anywhere at any time:

A young man named Peter reminded me of a modern-day Philip. I stopped in to a McDonald's in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I noticed Peter working the counter. I recognized him from our young adult ministry at church, and I knew he had just graduated from Harvard University with a master's degree. I greeted him and managed to get him to break free for coffee together.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, knowing that Harvard master's degree students don't usually aspire to work the counter at McDonald's. "Well," he explained, "I graduated in May but I went four months without finding a job, so I said to myself, 'I need some income to pay bills.' So this is where I've ended up—at least for now."
"Sorry to hear that. It must be hard," I replied, but Peter cut me off.
"No. Don't be sorry. God has me here. This place is giving me awesome opportunities to share my faith. I'm on a shift that includes a Buddhist guy from Sri Lanka, a Muslim fellow from Lebanon, a Hindu lady from India, and a fellow Christian from El Salvador. It's awesome. I get to be a global missionary to my coworkers while asking 'would you like fries with that?'"
He laughed and so did I. Like Philip, Peter found himself in a setting he never would have chosen as part of his long-term plan, but his mindset of living as a sent person shaped the way he looked at his circumstances and at the people around him.

Related Sermon Illustrations

Building a Bridge of Trust with Five Muslim Men

In his book The 9 of Arts Spiritual Conversation, John Crilly tells a story about building a relationship with five young Muslim men from a refugee camp outside Kenya:

We have very ...
[Read More]

The Church May Need To Take a Few Notes from FedEx

Every day FedEx sends over four million packages to valued customers. FedEx’s delivery routes cover every U.S. street and service more than 220 countries. In order to send well, ...

[Read More]